MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 12, 2024

Max Homa

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. I'm pleased to welcome Max Homa back to the interview room. Max, thanks so much for joining us. It's your career low round at Augusta National, a round of 67, in tough conditions. You're the leader in the clubhouse. Congratulations. We'd love to hear a little bit about it if you wouldn't mind if you wouldn't talking us through your first two round.

MAX HOMA: Yeah, thank you. Obviously been quite difficult out there. I struck the ball really well. I've really done everything quite well on the golf course, but most proud of what's gone on with our course management and just controlling thoughts and expectation and all that.

So it's been fun, and I feel like this -- these conditions have helped almost lean into the patience and all the things you hear, the clichés. So I feel like I've done a great job of that and then hit some good shots alongside that.

It's been quite fun. I am very glad to be inside, I will say.

Q. You've talked about before trying to do too much the first two days of a major and whatnot, and you mentioned the patience. How much of today's success was leaning into that, or any holes or examples that come to mind to show that?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, I would say most -- I would give most of that to those thoughts just of not needing to be better than I am. I wrote something in my journal yesterday that said however good I am is however good I am, I don't need to try to be better than I am, and just see where that takes me. Maybe it's winning this and maybe it's not, and I'm okay with that. I know what I put into this game, trying to get every ounce back doesn't really work, and I've tried that part.

So I just feel like so much of it has been just from making golf swings that feel good to me. They are not always the right one, I would say, for what maybe a commentator would look at, but picking the right ones.

I mean, I'm not sure which shot or which hole would lean in most to that, but there were just moments of trusting myself, like on 4 today, hitting a 7-wood instead of just taking the 4-iron in the bunker. Joe wanted me to hit the 7-wood and take it on. But he said if you feel better hitting in the bunker, we can do that, too.

That's just backing myself a bit, but then other times of playing just a low driver I've hit around here in the wind instead of trying to hit the high cool one at times when the wind was off the left because it just doesn't fit me. Just being patient and disciplined I feel like is a testament to the mental goals I've set for myself.

Q. What was it like watching Tiger gut it out alongside?

MAX HOMA: It was awesome. It really is a dream to get to play with him here. I've been saying, I always wanted to just watch him hit iron shots around here, and I was right up next to him. It was really cool. His short game was so good. I don't think I can explain how good some of the chip shots he hit today were.

He's special. We had a really quick turnaround, and if I was feeling tired and awful, I imagine he was feeling even worse.

You kind of -- he just is -- like he understands this golf course so well, but he hits such amazing golf shots. His iron play is so good that even when he did miss the green, you could tell he had so much control. And on 18, we had sandblasts for 45 seconds, and I turned around five times so I didn't get crushed in the face, and he's standing there like a statue and then poured it right in the middle.

So all the cliches you hear about him and all the old stories about how he will grind it out, it was fun to see that in person.

Q. On 3 it looked like you almost hit yourself with your own driver. Did you hit yourself in the head with that shot? I'm assuming that was maybe your worst swing of the day?

MAX HOMA: You didn't mention that I caught it, so just write that one down.

Yeah, it was a terrible swing. Bad focus. And every once in a while, I let go of the club. I didn't intend to, but I thought it looked about as bad as it probably could, but I was glad the club didn't touch the ground. That felt quite nice.

I probably made some more swings. That was definitely one of the few drivers that has not come up the middle, which is nice to say. But I got away with it, stayed in that right rough and moved along.

Q. Your game plan for this week, did it change? Because obviously you haven't -- you know as well as anybody, you haven't had a lot of success here, but did you change something in that game plan?

MAX HOMA: No, not really. I think I'm just aware when you're out of position, get back in position. Doesn't have to be the green. Doesn't have to be really anywhere near the green. Just make sure, especially these conditions, chipping into the wind best you can.

So I feel like when I was -- when I had been out of position, I had done a great job of getting back into it. I made some really good putts to make that look even better. But, yeah, just in general, just taking what I get, what the golf course gives me.

Q. You seem to have a good amount of intensity when you are kind of inside the ropes. Wondering, how challenging was it to block out the crowds and to manage them?

MAX HOMA: I would argue they block me and Jason out. So it's actually quite easy.

I imagine if I had -- at one point, I think we were leading, and I imagine would I have felt more pressure in a way had I not been playing with Tiger. So I actually think that was a good thing. It makes things intense. I guess I'm just very internal and quiet so I'm just observing.

It was quite fun today to just observe the crowd and how they react to Tiger and what he does. So it was just -- yeah, like I said, I don't actually find it too difficult. He's really easy to play with. And the crowd doesn't know you're there, which is pretty awesome.

Q. Why would it have been harder?

MAX HOMA: Because I think when you would hear the -- every single hole here, for the most part, you get a round of applause when you walk back to the tee. It's really cool. It gets bigger when you're playing better. The shots get loud when you are you're playing well.

And when you play with Tiger, they are all for Tiger. I mean, part of this is tongue in cheek, they say my name, I understand that people are supporting me, but when you walk up to the 12th tee, it's one of the coolest walks there is, everyone cheers, but you know that they are waiting for him. So I think it's easy just to stay in your own world and not get on your high horse at all. I think it kind of keeps you within yourself.

Q. Just curious when you started journalling and why has that been a therapeutic exercise for you?

MAX HOMA: I've been doing it on and off. I've been doing it a bit more religiously, sometime last year. I think it's good. I think it's good sometimes. You know, I always write things I'm grateful for in there to start. It's something that keeps you kind of grounded.

I put mental goals in for the day. If I'm at a tournament, obviously golf mental goals for that specific day. Other times I'll go into practice, maybe things just to be aware of. Write little sayings here and there.

I think it's one thing to think it. When you write it down, I think it becomes a bit more tangible. So just trying to be more strict with myself on that.

Q. There's a lot of guys on that list that have not won a major, including yourself. Are you surprised at that?

MAX HOMA: I did not notice that, sorry. I saw Bryson and Scottie. They have won, and they are quite good.

Q. There are a lot of guys further down?

MAX HOMA: Yeah. No, I just know I haven't and I would like to. So that's kind of where I've been -- where I've been at for the last couple days.

Q. You've had all of a half an hour to think about this. Being in this position at 36 holes in a major, different than being in this position at a regular tour event?

MAX HOMA: Yeah. We don't do this at a regular tour event.

Yeah, I mean, it will probably feel different, but I'm very fortunate. I have a wife that does not let me gloat, and I have friends back at the house that will just want to hear about what Tiger did today. So I'm surrounded by some awesome people.

I will appreciate this opportunity and all these cool things that I got to do. Going to Butler Cabin was pretty awesome. I will probably hang out with my son, Cam, probably change a diaper or two, and wake up tomorrow and go back to work.

Yeah, it will be different tomorrow than at a TOUR event. But I don't know if you guys have seen "Hoosiers," but the whole same size is 18 of them, and I'm just going to try to do my best.

Q. If you had to pick one moment that maybe a year from now you'll look back on this round and always remember?

MAX HOMA: Oh, man. That's such a hard question. One moment. The sentimental answer is the walk up to 12 tee. Tiger was last to walk up. Made a good par putt and walked up and that was cool.

For myself personally, the par on 5 was just -- I feel like that's the stuff you see people who are around the lead do. They lay it up, they don't bat an eye, and make a great wedge shot and make a great putt. That was just a nice moment for myself.

But yeah, I would just say that the memory from today, the memories will just be a lot of the Tiger stuff. I hope to build my own come this weekend, but I fortunately think I've done a good enough job of playing it one shot at a time that I can't really remember a ton of the round at the moment. I can tell you all of his somehow and Jason's, but I'm kind of blanking on my own.

Yeah, I played really well and I tried to play as boring as possible. I think I'll take, you know, the awareness of what I've been doing with me a while, but I think just the view of this beautiful golf course with the sea of fans, it will be seared in my brain for a while.

Q. Scottie woke up on Sunday a couple years in the morning and wondered if the moment was going to be too big for you. Seems like this place lets you learn a lot about yourself. What do you want to learn about yourself this weekend?

MAX HOMA: That's a great question. I think regardless of outcome, I'd like to -- I'd like to maintain this outlook I have on how I'm playing golf. Good shot, bad shot, doesn't really matter. Did I go through my process; did I commit to my shot? And once it takes off, I might as well close my eyes. I'd like to see if I can continue to do that this weekend. I think that's something I would like to take with me going forward.

And yeah, I mean, just having a bit of moxie, I guess. I feel like I showed it the last couple days, especially yesterday the first few holes playing with Tiger in front of a lot of people at the Masters and played some great golf. So I know I have that one in me. I'd like to see if I have the mental discipline for a whole week. I'm going to hope for that one.

Q. If somebody from TV came and said to pick out one shot you had today to put on SportsCenter, maybe excluding the par on 5, is there one that stands out, and why were you so happy with it?

MAX HOMA: I mean, I hit a 7-wood on 4 today that was pretty awesome. So yeah, that hole was impossible today and somehow we made it 2. I like that one.

Yeah, I think that was definitely the highlight of the day. Fortunately wasn't out of position too much so was able to just hit probably what looked like a lot of just okay shots. But just a lot of those iron shots into those greens, I feel like I really controlled the golf ball awesome today.

And yeah, I like shots like the one on 16. Landed it just where I needed it to. Just carved it exactly how I wanted to. Maybe those are things more I would enjoy, but maybe everyone can -- if it was on SportsCenter could appreciate 240 yards into the wind, a shot that went to 35 feet.

Q. What might you write in your journal tomorrow for tomorrow?

MAX HOMA: What might I? Probably pretty similar stuff. Five or six things I'm grateful for, usually people. Sometimes opportunity. I'll be quite grateful to get to play Saturday at the Masters.

Yeah, and probably just write down about what I learned from today and what I'm going to take with me, and a lot of it is just going to be back to that detachment from the result. Just do the best I can, and that might be great and it might not be, but I'm just going to be okay with that.

Q. Given the wind the past couple days, was there a sigh of relief to finish today as high on the leaderboard as you did?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, I think the wind picked up like three miles an hour from my side. That was about as happy as you could be to be off of a golf course. That was so hard. We got the sand shower to end our day. So it was kind of even the golf course saying, Get the hell out of here. It was nice. It was hard.

We had to play extra holes. Just being out in the wind for that long just got old. Even here, even at a place as amazing as this, you still -- I was picturing my couch and the TV. Yeah, just wanted to be done. Just be inside. That's all we were rooting for.

Q. You would have been six at the 1997 Masters. Do you remember it? And if not, what's your first Tiger memory?

MAX HOMA: Yeah, I actually very vividly remember the 18th hole, for whatever reason, the red sweater sticks out. The drive way left, everybody jumping in, trying to see -- Tiger jumping. I think he was playing with Costantino Rocca, he's waving at him where the green is.

And yeah, I don't know, that sticks out. But that's a pretty cool kind of -- that's probably my first golf-watching memory, which is a pretty good one when you think about the timing of how amazing that event was.

Yeah, every time you -- every time I look back or see highlights from that event, I mean, it's funny how six years old, you're probably just starting to develop those memories, and that's an awesome one to start with.

Q. How much does the wind really play a role in how you putt? Because it seemed like being out there today, it was a little bit more of a cautious take on putting. How do you go through your mindset when it's windy?

MAX HOMA: When you're more cautious, you're aware of what direction, if it's downwind, it's going to be fast, doesn't matter if it's uphill. If it's into the wind and up, you know you're obviously going to have to smash a bit into the wind.

But into the wind and downhill is the tricky one. I think that to me is when I got the most cautious. But anyway, you read it, and you kind of just guess. But it's actually quite -- for what I'm working on, it's actually quite nice because you hit it. I'm out on 18 and I hit a great putt and I missed it like six inches to the left, and there's nothing I'm going to sit here and poo-poo about myself. Just the wind is whipping.

So I think it actually kind of helps in a weird way. But it's demanding and difficult, but another thing, at least I thought to myself today, this is hard for absolutely everybody. I don't care if you're Denny McCarthy, the greatest putter I've ever seen in my life. I'm sure it was very hard to putt today. Kind of gives you a bit of, I guess, relief in that manner.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much and best of luck the rest of the tournament.